Chapter 649: Can You Still Hold On?

Prince Chen furrowed brow: "Princess Jiayou? Xiao Yuanhang's daughter?"

They are merely a child, how could they accomplish such a great deed?

Prince Qing shook head: "Brother Wang, that girl truly possesses extraordinary ability."

When praying for rain, they once summoned a true dragon; I myself saw it then!

Prince Chen looked toward the Masked Man: "Your Excellency Top Honor, do you think the armory matter was caused by them?"

"Not only," the Masked Man nodded, "even the incident at the execution ground a few days ago was likely their handiwork."

Those scapegoats had clearly taken the bewitching drug, been beaten beyond recognition, yet all woke up just before the execution—how could that be human effort?

Prince Chen nodded: "Your Excellency Top Honor makes sense. But now, do we have any countermeasure?"

The Masked Man thought: "Weapons fear rust most; each polishing removes a layer. If we do this again, those weapons may no longer be usable."

Prince Qing, upon hearing, became anxious: "What to do? Not polishing makes them unusable! Polishing also doesn't work, not polishing also doesn't work!"

The Masked Man said: "Issue the order: stop rushing, command the soldiers to return to the Main Camp, let the armory personnel polish slowly, however much they polish counts."

"Otherwise, the weapons you just polished will surely rust again."

"Meanwhile, all camps will fire up furnaces overnight, day and night producing new weapons."

"Yes!"

Prince Qing asked: "But what about that little girl?"

The Masked Man replied: "Last time we already informed the populace that there are Da Xia spies in the capital."

"Then let's make the pretense real: tomorrow, release all ten persons, giving each fifty taels of silver for medical treatment and settling down."

"Then, conduct a citywide manhunt for Da Xia spies!"

"From the mansions of dukes and marquises down to commoners' homes, search every inch!"

"Especially the households of the Ministry of Personnel Vice Minister Lu, who is on good terms with Princess Jiayou, and the Long Princess's Chenghui Palace."

"Besides," the Masked Man looked toward Prince Chen, "there is also your eldest son, the Xuanqiong Temple in the suburbs, Chu Yuan's Guoshi Residence, and the Imperial Teacher's Song Residence—these too must be searched meticulously."

"Furthermore, assign more personnel to keep a close watch."

"Since they are here, they must have a place to stay."

"Once discovered, no need to report; kill on sight."

"Yes!" After saying that, the two retreated.

The Masked Man took out Tuan Tuan's portrait, looking at the smiling little face in the picture, murmuring: "If the world is not unified, how can we achieve eternal peace?"

"You are so extraordinary and outstanding; why can't you be used by me?"

The Masked Man put away the portrait, rose, left the palace, and came to Cheng Jing's residence.

Cheng Jing was sitting at the table, raising their eyes to look at the Masked Man: "Anything?"

The Masked Man sat opposite them, getting straight to the point: "Princess Jiayou is in the capital, but I don't know whether that Gu Worm they also brought."

Cheng Jing's eyes shone brightly: "No problem, as long as we can find them, a single question will reveal it."

The Masked Man shook their head: "I have already ordered a citywide manhunt starting tomorrow, but I have no confidence we can find them."

Cheng Jing asked: "What do you want me to do?"

The Masked Man looked at them: "Your internal Gu Worm was once the mother worm; can you locate the one in their hand?"

"If they brought the Gu Worm, then finding the Gu Worm means finding them."

Cheng Jing pondered a moment: "Although the child worm has backlashed, the bond between them still remains; I can give it a try."

After saying that, they closed their eyes, fingertips pressing against the brow, beginning to attempt to activate the mother worm dormant in their own brain.

After a moment, their brow furrowed slightly, a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on their forehead.

Suddenly, "Ah—"

They let out a loud shout, hands firmly pressing their temples, face ashen as paper.

The Masked Man frowned: "How is it?"

Cheng Jing opened their eyes, looking at them: "No, but how could that be? I'll try again."

After saying that, they took a deep breath, closed their eyes again, fingertips trembling slightly.

But this time, they almost immediately cried out in anguish: "Ah—!"

The Masked Man hurriedly stood, walked over, and supported them: "Enough, don't force yourself if you can't hold on."

Cheng Jing clutched their head with both hands, veins bulging at the temples, as if something were frenziedly tearing at inside their skull.

They panted heavily, cold sweat streaming down their cheeks nonstop.

Immediately, they trembled as they pulled a porcelain bottle from their sleeve, poured out a pill, stuffed it into their mouth, and swallowed it.

After a moment, they finally recovered: "The mother and child worms must inevitably sense each other; the only way to sever their bond is for one of them to have died."

"According to Lu Wu, Princess Jiayou is extremely fond of that white, plump Gu Worm, so it must still be with them, yet why can't I sense it?"

The Masked Man said: "Perhaps they are not carrying it on their person."

"Impossible," Cheng Jing shook their head: "The bond between a Gu Worm and its master is extraordinarily close; they would certainly have it with them."

They pondered in anguish for a moment, then their eyes lit up: "It should be that I am too far away."

"If I am close enough, I will surely be able to find it."

The Masked Man looked at them: "Do you want to go search personally?"

Cheng Jing raised their face: "Since you have already ordered a large-scale manhunt, I will go along."

The Masked Man fell silent for a moment: "Can your body hold up?"

Cheng Jing gave a grim smile: "Even if I cannot hold on, I must; otherwise, am I to let this damned Gu Worm reside in my body for a lifetime?"

The Masked Man nodded slowly: "All right, tomorrow you will follow them, going place by place."

The next morning, as dawn just broke, the streets and alleys of Jingcheng echoed with the sound of hurried footsteps.

Teams of soldiers knocked on doors house by house, searching until chickens flew and dogs leapt.

Cheng Jing wrapped himself in a heavy cloak, together with Liu Guiyan, sat inside a carriage, and moved forward slowly with the searching soldiers.

At the same moment, inside the secret chamber of the Guoshi Residence.

Chu Yuan furrowed his brow: "Early this morning, a few watchers came outside my residence."

"These days I'll have to wrong you; it's safer to stay in the secret chamber."

Xiao Ningyuan clasped his hands and said: "National Preceptor, you overpraise us; being able to take refuge here is already good enough."

Tuan Tuan burrowed into Chu Yuan's embrace: "Master, what are they up to again?"

"I can't even go chase butterflies with Xiao Feifei anymore."

"A trapped beast still fights, that's all." Chu Yuan stroked her head: "Be good, just wait for His Majesty's great army to arrive."

The streets of Jingcheng.

Cheng Jing lifted the carriage curtain, narrowed his eyes at the expelled populace outside, sensed carefully, but found nothing.

The sun rose gradually, the carriage shuttled nonstop through Jingcheng's streets and alleys.

Finally, they arrived outside Lu Qingjia's residence; Cheng Jing sat upright: "Go around this manor several times for me."

"Yes!"

The carriage circled the Vice Minister of Personnel's residence a full three times.

Liu Guiyan asked softly: "Cheng Lang, can you still hold on? Let's go back."

Cheng Jing shook his head, his face growing paler; Liu Guiyan felt heartbroken and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Wiped, it seeped again; seeped, wiped again.

At dusk, the carriage finally returned to his residence.

Cheng Jing had already gone limp in the carriage, barely able to lift his hand.

Liu Guiyan jumped down from the carriage: "Someone! Quick! Help me support him!"

The servants rushed over and lifted Cheng Jing out of the carriage.

Liu Guiyan shouted: "Quick! Help him inside! Bring the old ginseng soup I prepared!"

"Yes!"

The next day, Cheng Jing gritted his teeth, supported by Liu Guiyan, climbed into the carriage and arrived outside the Guoshi Residence.